National History Day

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

AL ZAGOFSKY/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS Michael Kattner, the regional coordinator of National History Day, and Bill Allison, a member of the Mauch Chunk Historical Society, on the board of the Mauch Chunk Museum, and a member of the Jim Thorpe Area School District Board of Education help with the judging of the event as they review a display discussing women aviators.

Two Jim Thorpe students finalists in regional competition

By AL ZAGOFSKY TN Correspondent azagofsk@ptd.net

It's on to the National History Day competition for 74 Northeastern Pennsylvania students, including two students from Jim Thorpe High School, who became finalists in the regional competition at Jim Thorpe High School on Saturday, March 16.

Jim Thorpe High School students Elizabeth Strauss and Lauren VanEssendelft garnered second-place in the Senior (9-12) Exhibit - Group category with their display project Harlem Renaissance - No Fear for the "New Negro", which followed the African-American migration from the Jim Crow South to the art, literature, and rhythm and blues soul of Harlem.

The students were supervised by Ronald Ellison and Christopher Holub, both teachers at the Jim Thorpe High School an advisors to their History Club. Ellison and Holub coordinated the National History Day at Jim Thorpe High School-the first time the event was hosted locally, and they think, a positive turning point in the area's local history.

Previous National History Day regional competitions had been held at the Hazleton campus of Penn State University, Who declined to host it this year because of budget cuts. Participants were pleased with the accommodations at Jim Thorpe High School, especially its ability to hold the entire program in one building on a single floor, as well as to supplement the program with reenactors and a speaker and historic film program

The program's theme, "Turning Points in History - People, Ideas and Events", inspired the students' five types of projects: Documentary, Paper, Exhibit, Performance and Website Within each category, there were competitions in Group and Individual, Junior (6-8) and Senior (9-12), with winners selected in first, second and third places.

Upwards of 300 students plus their families and friends, reenactors and members of the community came to the Region #6 competition from: Luzerne, Schuylkill, Columbia, Carbon, Montour, Lehigh, Northampton and Northumberland counties, which included 27 schools: 13 Public Schools, 8 Catholic Schools, and 6 Home Schools.

"This is a regional competition," explained Michael Kattner, the regional coordinator of National History Day. "The regional winners go on to the state contest, and then to the national contest. The state contest will be held at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania, and the national contest at the University of Maryland where the winners will receive full scholarships to the university. About 800 student competitors go to the State competition with about 75 from this contest.

"The number one thing that we are looking for in a project is historical accuracy and evidence of research and analysis," Explained Jeff Hawks, the state coordinator for National History Day in Pennsylvania. "The students have done a lot of work making their projects look great, but we are really looking at content. A nice presentation is part of the evaluation, but the content is the most important thing."